Peripheral Issues
by Songbird's Spirit
Summary: (Pre-AOE) As much as Sideswipe hates to admit it, he's not going to get very far in his sorry state. Especially not if he has to drag a comrade behind him. While the very thought may pain him, a nosey pair of siblings might just be his salvation. So long as they can stop bickering long enough to make sure he doesn't bleed to death.
1. Smoke Signals

Edlynn groaned as her brother Scottie whapped her with his arm. Their beds were just close enough to rouse one another without actually getting out of bed.

On top of that, the simply would not stop barking and scratching at the glass.

"Sis... _sis_...EDLYNN!" Scottie snapped and pushed his sister out of bed.

The woman screeched as she slipped from her bed, taking most of her covers during the fall. Slowly, the woman sat up and yawned, glaring daggers at her brother.

"What the fuck?! You asshole, what was that for?" She hissed, struggling to stay awake.

"The fucking dog-."

"Humphrey, smartass. He's got a name."

"What. Ever." Scottie grumbled, "He's barking-."

"I've noticed."

"Damnit, Eddie! Stop doing that!"

Edlynn shot her brother a wry grin, "Stop what, my dear brother?"

Scottie glowered, "Oh you know what. You're such a shit, y'know that?"

"Yes, you've mentioned this."

"Just let the damn thing-."

"Humphrey!"

Scottie swiped at his sister. "Let _Humphrey_ out, dammit!" Scottie snapped and threw the blankets back over his head, thoroughly pissed.

Edlynn showed her brother's back a rude gesture but slipped on a pair of ancient Sketchers that had belonged to her grandma forever ago and padded out of the room she shared with her brother.

Their desired professions and...unfortunate circumstances had left them little choice in the matter of living situations. So Edlynn and Scottie had found themselves stuck living in the same house despite being unable to stand one another seventy percent of the time. And then there was Humphrey.

Humphrey the swedish vallhund that belonged to their parents before the incident. He was a squat little thing, adorable and well trained...most of the time. After the family's beloved golden retriever, Amy, passed away, the empty house drove everyone crazy. Thus, Humphrey was adopted from the pound, with a weird lopsided ear to boot.

Edlynn grumbled at the energetic thing as it jumped up against the pane of the back door. Shuffling closer to the enraged dog, the woman gripped the handle.

"Damn it, Humphrey. It's too early for your antics." Edlynn yawned and unlocked the sliding door.

The dog was out the door like a bullet, barking up a storm as he went _underneath_ one of the fence posts and went shooting off like a rocket towards the looming woods at the base of the "mountains".

Then she saw it. Edlynn gawked at the rising smoke coming from the farther in and upwards. Either someone decided to camp like an asshole on private property or...something. Gritting her teeth, Edlynn quickly kicked off her sketchers and pulled on her hiking boots. Once she had successfully located her phone under her mass of blankets, she grabbed her concealed carry and dashed after Humphrey.

Though it wasn't like the dog would have waited for her. The thing didn't wait for anyone. The trail of smoke was easy enough to follow. However, she hadn't expected to stumble upon a path of destruction once she had to start up the incline.

"Shit...look at this mess." Edlynn muttered, finally hearing echoes of Humphrey's loud mouth up ahead.

Being the paranoid thing she was, Edlynn didn't dare call after the dog. Instead she slowly inched nearer to the lit up section of forest as smoke continued to billow out into the open sky. Swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, woman took hold of the tree beside her and peered into the small crater of sorts.

 ***Click***

A cylinder, massive and humming, filled her vision without warning. Her throat seemed to swell shut in shock as the thing grew hot and bright. Unable to move and finding it hard to breathe, Edlynn futily gripped the tree behind her as tears pricked her vision.

And then it moved, followed by a series of harsh clicks and growls.

 _What the hell is going on here?_

Before her, wedged within the crater, was a thick rountund...transformer. Oh god. Those killer robots from the commercials. Edlynn, in a flurry of panic, scrambled away from the crater and attempted to flee back to her home only to be enveloped by an absolutely massive metal hand and lifted from the ground.

Fear made it hard to breathe as a tall silver alien with wheels for feet held her in his fist, angrily clicking at the rounder one below him. The latter replied with a series of soft chirrs only to be met with a harsh growl from the mech holding her. The silver mech then glared at her, causing goosebumps to pepper her flesh.

"You're lucky fleshbag," he snarled and dropped her back onto the ground, "scamper off and take that pit spawned thing with you." he jerked his head towards Humphrey.

Edlynn swallowed the lump in her throat and managed to call Humphrey to her. "I...I uh, thanks."

"Don't thank me." The mech snapped, "If I had my way, I'd have shot you."

The woman frowned at him, "Sheesh, then why not do it then?" Edlynn muttered.

"Don't tempt me earthling. The whole lot of your kind ought to just die out. Bunch of traitors, all of you."

"Hey! I ain't a traitor! The fuck did I ever do to you?!" The woman snapped.

The fuck was he accusing her of? She had never met a transformer before, only heard about them from the television.

The mech scoffed. "Your _kind_ is hunting us! After all we've done to save you! You try to kill us all for your own selfish gain!"

Briefly the rounder mech clawed at the one yelling at Edlynn, but he ignored it. Edlynn grit her teeth. "Hey! I don't want any death! I never asked for that!" She shouted, "The government kind of just does what it wants! It's not like us civilians have any say in what happens to you!"

"No one should have any say!" The mech scowled, "Slaggit, fleshbag. Leave already, and if you dare call that number…"

"Can I help?"

The mech froze for a second, then turned to given Edlynn a harsh glare. "If you think I'm letting a human anywhere-."

"Oh give me a break," Edlynn snapped, "Look, I don't know if you're aware, but people come crawling around her to camp all the time despite it being private property. And I doubt you're going to be able to carry your friend far without being spotted by a trespasser."

The mech let out a gust of air, likely his version of a huff. "And why would you help me?"

"Well...I dunno. Maybe it's guilt. Maybe I'm just crazy." Edlynn muttered. "I just...not all humans are bad okay. I mean, yeah, there's a staggering amount of assholes on this planet. But...not everyone's like that."

The mech was silent. "So there are a few humans who aren't bad," he looked away in favor of helping the other mech to his feet, "it won't matter though. Those few humans aren't enough to change things."

Edlynn snorted, "Well, not overnight maybe. But small things add up, yeah?"

With that, and an intense feeling of nervousness, the woman began walking. "So...where exactly are you going to take him?" she asked.

"Just keep walking." the silver mech scowled.

Edlynn hesitated for a moment, but relented and continued on her way, keeping a pace with his wheeled feet and injured partner in mind. Every so often the two would chirp and make noises at one another before falling silent. The woman lost track of time, but it had to have been hours by now.

"Alright, stop here." The silver one wheezed, his frame sagging with obvious relief as the round mech finally found a place to rest.

Edlynn shifted from foot to foot for a moment or two, gathering her courage to speak up. "What...what happened to him?"

The silver mech didn't answer right away, but instead took seat amongst the roots and rested. "Cosmos. His name is Cosmos."

"...okay."

"He watched over Earth from the outer orbit till' your government sent someone after him."

"Wouldn't he be faster though...I wouldn't think earth satellites or deep space weaponry would do much to him." Edlynn murmured.

The mech gave a harsh bitter laugh. "And he might have managed to get away, but his thrusters can't be used at that power without setting your atmosphere ablaze." the mech grimaced, "slaggit, he's like prime. Would rather sacrifice himself than put humanity at risk."

A tight feeling squeezed Edlynn's chest. "I'm sorry."

"Apologies won't do the mech much good, earthling."

It was like a slap to the face. "Then what can I do? How am I supposed to help you?"

"You can start by leaving." he muttered, "Leave, and don't call that number."

"What about you two?" Edlynn pressed, "They shot Cosmos out of the fucking atmosphere! I'm pretty sure humans can track that kind of stuff!"

He had no answer for that. "Just go home, kid. It's not-."

"It is my problem!"

"Not, it-."

"Yes it is!" Edlynn snapped, "It's my problem, because I'm making it my problem."

The mech shuttered his optics and frowned, "You've got a real issue with interrupting people, human."

The woman couldn't fight the small flicker of a smile on her lips. "Funny, you ain't the only one that thinks so."

"Then maybe you should work on that." he muttered.

"Hmph, don't get your hopes up."

"...wouldn't dare to." The mech replied, "Now go home already. You can't do much more than you already have."

"Alright, sheesh. I'm going." Edlynn muttered and shoved her hands in her pocket, noticing the sky had gotten quite a bit brighter by now, "Be careful, y'hear."

"Hmph."

Figuring that was all the reply she'd get, Edlynn began descending the slope towards home. It couldn't have been any later than four in the morning but her bones felt like feathers. How was she supposed to get any sleep now? At least she knew how to get home. Just head down, and hope you don't encounter any of those damned rattlesnakes or ungodly large hairy spiders on the way down.

All the more reason for her to not leave her house more than she had to.

When she finally made it back to the fence, Humphrey was waiting patiently by the door. Figures. Not like Scottie was going to keep his selfish ass awake to make sure she, if not the dog, came back in once piece. With a grumble, she opened the sliding glass door and slipped in after the dog. Lazily kicking off her boots and shedding her pajama jacket, Edlynn relocked the door and padded back upstairs to the room she shared with her brother.

Scottie, being the light sleeper he was, was peering owlishly at Edlynn through the semi-darkness before the she had even crossed the room. "The fuck, sis? Didja take a shit with the dog or somethin'? Damn."

Edlynn scowled and yanked out her brother's charger from the wall just for the sake of being an ass. "No, fucktard, the dog got under the fence. Had to chase em' down."

"Yeah, right." Scottie muttered, cursing under his breath at her as he struggled to find the outlet in the dim lighting.

"You wanna get up and take Humphrey out next time, brat?"

"..."

"Didn't think so."

"Would it kill you to be nice, for a change?"

"No more than it'd kill you to stop being such a pest."

"Bitch."

"Brat."

"Loser."

"Poser."

"..."

"Goodnight."

"Whatever, you too."

Yet despite the familiar sounds of her brother's soft snores and Humphrey's happy whimpers from his dreams, Edlynn was restless. Smoke had stopped coming from the crater and from the bedroom window everything looked as it always did. But the thought of the heated barrel of a massive gun, the inability to breathe, being held in someone's palm and facing their want for her blood, and their terrible injuries inflicted by humans like her…

The thoughts did a good job at chasing away any chance of rest that night.


	2. Blood On Their Hands

**A big thanks to Waterfront for adding this to your alert list and also to adelphe24, and mklover2013 for favoriting and following this story! And then Jazzcat44 for adding this story to their favorites! Seriously guys, thanks a bunch! I'm actually pretty proud of this story so far! Anyhoo, please enjoy and it would mean a lot if you dropped a review in the box to tell me what you thought. No pressure though!**

* * *

Edlynn wasn't at all surprised about how chores worked between her and her brother. After the accident, things stayed relatively the same when it came to the dynamics of their house. She cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, dusted, and vacuumed their room and the living room.

Scottie took care of the trash, vacuumed the other rooms, did most of the yardwork, and organized the basement. Both did their own laundry and cared for the dog.

But today Edlynn was finding it hard to concentrate, as she had for nearly two days now. Admittedly, she was worried about the other night. About _them_. What the wheeled one had said had bothered her. From what she could gather, despite the clear cut line that there were good and bad aliens, he basically claimed the government was flat out hunting down the aliens regardless of faction.

But...why?

"Edlynn! The sink!" Scottie shouted, harshly snapping the woman out of her daze.

The woman swore as she realized the sink was, indeed, overflowing and hastily slammed her hand on the lever. Silence stretched between the siblings as water dripped onto the floor, both quietly growing ever tenser.

"What the fuck happened, Eddie?" Scottie demanded quietly.

"What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Edlynn huffed and yanked the drain out, "I zoned out, sorry."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Scott seethed.

"Excuse me?"

"Damn it, Eddie! I'm not stupid! You were gone for almost two hours!"

"Was not-."

"Yes you fucking were!" Scottie roared, "And you've been weird ever since! Just tell me what happened!"

Edlynn looked up from the sink, staring blankly out the window. Her expression was neutral, eyes completely blank. Scottie scowled and moved closer, almost right behind his sister.

"Eddie-!"

"I _know child_...just give me a minute."

"Why?!"

"Damn it, Scott!" Edlynn snapped, "I just...ugh, y'know those robot-aliens...and all those terrorist attacks that were actually battles?"

"Did...no, no you...did you-."

"Two actually," Edlynn trembled, "They told me something. I've...I can't-."

"You -wait!" Scottie groaned, going red-faced in frustration, "And you _didn't_ call!"

"Don't you fucking dare!" Eddie screeched as Scottie reached for his phone, knocking him back and gripping his arms, "Listen here you little shit," she glowered, "Y'know the two factions, the good and bad ones, right? We're...he said we turned on them!"

"Good!" Scott shouted, struggling against his sister.

"No, dumbass! Not good! _Not. Good._ " She snapped, gripping even tighter.

"They destroyed Chicago!" Scottie argued, "We _both_ had friends there!"

"It was either the city or the world! Wake up and look at the bigger picture Scottie!" Edlynn shouted, "They were bringing their _planet_ here! You saw that thing in the sky when the city was being attacked!"

"But...so, what about it…"

"Yo' dumbass, genius sister here!"

Scottie rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Look bud," Edlynn drawled, "Looking at the physics of space in general and the sheer size of the aliens...if you put their size into planetary ratios and take our average-!"

"Holy shit, Edlynn... _in english please_!"

"Fucking...ugh, look, guesstimating the size of their planet, if the thing had entered out gravitational field it would have ripped the planet apart." Edlynn sighed, finally letting go of her brother, "These good bots...why is the government hunting them down if they literally saved the planet...a few times now too?"

Scottie stared at his sister, eventually shaking his head.

"Just...what happened out there, Eddie?"

"They...there were two. Uh, a tall one with wheels for feet and a round one. His name was Cosmos. Apparently he's some sort of satellite cause Cosmos was shot right out of our atmosphere." Edlynn murmured.

"Okay, then what?"

"Well, wheels' was gonna shoot me. Humans were hunting him and he wasn't too keen on letting me live. But Cosmos wouldn't let him." Edlynn shook her head. "He...he was just so...I dunno Scottie. He acted so betrayed so I tried to help him get a move on in the right direction."

"And…?"

"That was it, I left after that."

"So, other than a bit of trauma...what's wrong with you?"

Edlynn swatted at him, "I'm worried about them you ass! I feel responsible for whatever reason. I mean, I know it's not my fault directly, but still! They...I just…"

Scottie sighed, "What can we do now?"

"Well, nothing. What could we do? They're long gone by now." Edlynn folded her arms with a frown, "Best we can do is to keep our mou-."

… **!**

The siblings then froze, a heavy rapping sound almost echoing throughout the house.

"That didn't sound like the front door." Edlynn muttered with a nervous chuckle.

"No shit, what the hell was that?!" Scottie hissed, ducking as Edlynn swatted at his head in panicked irritation.

"Human!" A voice neither of them knew rasped loudly from outside.

A sharp jolt of adrenaline spurred the older sibling to rush out the back door, nearly tripping over Humphrey in her haste. It was the tall mech, as she'd thought, the one one with wheels and a very...eh, stern attitude. Edlynn -even with no clue as to how his biology worked- could tell he was in rough shape. He was actually kind of leaning on their house now that she was really looking at him.

In the fast fading evening light, Edlynn felt her eyes widen as she took in the complex details of the mech's frame. "What the hell happened to you?" She gaped.

The bot didn't answer for awhile, seeming to weigh his options. He shook his helm, and offered a warning look.

"Cemetery Winds…" He hissed, "They've torn into me."

While the term 'Cemetery Winds' wasn't a familiar one, it didn't sound good regardless. Fear gripped the woman tight, "S-Scottie! Get out here!"

The mech groaned and lowered to his hands and knees, his frame whining in protest.

"Seriously, Eddie?!" Scott poked his head out the back door, a horrified look plastered on his face.

Edlynn gave her brother a harsh glare before turning back to the injured mech, not daring to approach him just yet. "Well...s-shit, uh, the garage! We got tools and whatnot in there! Do you think you can make it?" Eddie prodded, gesturing to the old metal barn-like shack not far from the house.

The mech's expression flickered, clearly uncomfortable and doubting her suggestion. And yet, he moved towards it all the same. He had little choice otherwise.

"Scottie," Edlynn shouted as she followed after the limping mech, "Go get some hand towels and wax rags! And a bag of clothespins!"

Before the younger sibling could protest, his sister was already bolting ahead to open the heavy metal doors to the garage. For a moment, Scottie was frozen. He knew what she wanted but did he want any part of this…

...fuck it.

If she considered him part of this then he had little other choice. Edlynn was likely to hound him until he agreed anyway. So with a flurry of curse words, the younger sibling dashed back into the house to gather everything he needed.

"Damn it all," Scottie grumbled, "She'd better fuckin' know what she's doing."

* * *

"Look, kid...I don't-." The alien mech huffed and clutched his side as the woman attempted -yet again- to tie off one of his severed veins, "Don't do that."

"Well then what _should_ I do?!" Edlynn pressed.

"I shouldn't have come here." He muttered, "I don't trust you. Let's make that clear now." The mech spat, glaring daggers at the persistent woman.

"Well it's a little late to be going back on that decision, no?" Edlynn fired right back. "Now, you've got to realize you're bleeding out. Even I can see that. So please, be at least a little cooperative and let me help you!"

The alien scoffed, "Help me? You've already got my energon all over your hands and arms." He spat, "If you knew how to help me you'd know not to do that."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Energon, the blue liquid you're stained with, is toxic to most humans." Sideswipe groaned, "Go wash it off, dumbaft femme."

Much the the mech's initial bemusement, the woman seemed to flinch all over before she ran cursing out of the barn. He heard the door to the house slam shut soon after. The mech shook his helm, though quietly admired her persistence.

"...you've been awfully quiet." The mech observed, though he didn't look at the other sibling.

"Pfft, you've got my sister's 'help'. Isn't that enough?" Scottie muttered.

The alien raised a brow at that. "You two are nothing alike."

"Tell me something I don't know wisecrack."

"Hmph...how long's your sister going to be gone?" he asked softly.

"You said 'poison' so expect her to be awhile. Knowing her she's going to change into something old…"

Again, the mech seemed surprised. "I said that she could be poisoned and she's still going to help me?"

"Get used to it pal," Scottie huffed, "You went Edlynn Mewes for help. So you'd better believe you'll be getting some help."

The mech offered him a funny look. "And what about you?"

"What about me."

"...forget it, fleshling."

"Alright you troublemakers, I'm back." Edlynn beamed, now fully decked out in blue jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and rubber gloves.

Without so much as another word, the woman lugged over the entire laundry basket of old rags and snatched up the bag of clothespins.

"Alright, tough guy. You're going to need to move those hands of yours."

"Servos." He muttered.

"Pardon?" Edlynn chuckled and set about stopping the slow leak of energon from the vein. "Wanna run that by me again?"

"Servos, we call hands, servos."

"Well, that's a start I guess." She murmured, "You gotta a name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he huffed.

"Yeah, that's why I asked smartass. Now, you gotta name or not?"

"...Sideswipe."

"Alright, Sideswipe. That's more alike it." Edlynn smiled, "Now, what exactly should we be doing other than tying up these veins?"

"Unless you can weld-."

"Scottie can weld. He's pretty good with mecha-."

"Do _not_ drag me into this, Edd. No way." Scott snapped, on his feet in an instant.

Edlynn glowered at her brother, ignoring the stares Sideswipe was giving them. "Look, you little shit. I'm asking for your help here!"

"And I don't want to help! I'm not even sure why you're risking poisoning to help someone you don't even know!" Scottie scowled.

Edlynn only huffed and set her hands on her hips. "Gee, I dunno Scottie. Maybe I'm just not a heartless prick like some people. When someone needs help, I give it to them. Unlike you. Always too worried about what people think of you to step outside your comfort zone for once in your god damned life!"

"You know what bitch-!"

"Hey! _HEY_!" Sideswipe shouted, placing a servo heavily between the two warring siblings. "Sheesh, you two are more vicious than Sunny on a good day." he muttered.

Edlynn scowled and said nothing more, roughly dropping to her knees and moving onto the next vein.

"Fine, I'll figure out how to weld on my own." Edlynn huffed, "It may not be pretty, but it'll be something."

"You don't even-."

"No one fucking asked you, Scott." Edlynn snapped, "If you don't want to help then get out. Go back to the house and feed the dog, clean up the sink, make yourself useful or some shit. Just get out."

With clenched fists the younger sibling stormed out of the garage and stomped back towards the house. Sideswipe said nothing for awhile, opting to merely watch the young woman diligently work to seal off his energon lines.

"Is it always like that between you and your brother?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You hate each other that much…?"

"No, of course not." Edlynn huffed, "I don't expect you to understand. I really don't. But we don't hate each other. We just...don't get along. The way we act and think and generally try to live gets in each other's way. We rarely see eye to eye and...yeah. We're just...siblings I guess." the woman paused for a moment, "But...uh, sorry you had to see that. Our parents wouldn't have been very pleased to hear about that."

"Where are-."

"Don't."

"...alright."

Little else was said over the next few hours. Either she was tying off more lines or desperately yanking sticks and uncomfortable bits of nature out of aggravated wounds. By the end of the fourth hour, Edlynn was exhausted.

"So...is any of this actually going to help?"

After a moment, the mech relented and offered a nod. "You stopping the bleeding. So my nanites can focus solely on repairs now." he hummed, "I'll still need to weld my armor."

"Yeah...again, sorry about-."

"Fuck it."

From the entrance of the barn, Scott called out, effectively startling the mech and his sister. "Fine. I'll weld him. Happy?" the younger sibling scowled.

Edlynn managed to offer a relieved smile.

"Thanks a ton, Scottie."

"Whatever."

* * *

 **Really happy with how this turned out. Mostly. I hope Sideswipe didn't seem too OOC here. Hmm, gotta practice a bit more with that mech.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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